Pre-season, Harden talked about being excited about developing his off-ball game. It just never really happened, maybe one game in the pre-season it happened but otherwise not so much. Probably due to injury, lack of offensive system, familiarity, whatever it is, it didn't happen. Also Howard isn't "elite" defensively. I can name you 5 better defensive centers pretty easily with higher deterrance %'s, DFG%, points saved, etc. Here are the centers playing more than 25 minutes this year. His Deterrance % is not even top 5. Where he is really bad is both his contest % and FG% allowed. Some of the worst in the NBA at his position. He's allowing 57% vs his contest, I mean seriously?? His numbers last year in the regular season weren't nearly as bad.
Im talking about the playoffs...anyone that watched any of the games would clearly see the impact when he played vs. when he was on the bench. He was easily the most dominant force on the court defensively.
You guys love to complain (as if he was brought here to get 22ppg, Morey didn't bring him here for that), then he brings it in the playoffs while Harden sits on the bench game 6. He's not Hakeem and he's had no backside help until Capella entered the lineup. He plays defense and he rebounds - and can finish if given the ball off penetration. That alone is worth the money he's getting. This team has a **** ton of problems right now. Dwight isn't one.
Relax, as someone has said DMo will fix a lot. Dwight showing bad numbers is due to having a bad defensive team. You seriously cannot blame Dwight for us giving up over 100 a game, then he gets stats like Opp FG per Contest skewed because he's getting shot on because of the teams defense being bad. His minutes per game are low from the injury so his ppg are low and James has been ignoring him on offense. You fix the perimeter defense, bring back DMo, get James to stop being a diva and he'll be a fine #2. The TEAM is playing like crap.
I agree. His defense is still good enough, as is the rebounding. But it seems he just can't get up as quickly as he used to -- and for him, that is everything. Wouldn't pay him max money, but would love to be able to keep him and Capela. Having two legit centers makes a world of difference.
I don't disagree that "playoff dwight" is better than "regular season dwight" but why do we have two dwights? Doesn't our team need "playoff dwight" this year during the regular season? This is totally funny to me why anyone can excuse a player making super max money to mail it in. I mean, Duncan is like 40 years old playing on a below market contract yet doesn't mail it in, doesn't take as many days off. He's one of the best defensive centers in the league right now, 40 years old. It's ridiculous that people excuse Dwight for not playing as well as he could be playing and saving himself for the playoffs, especially if we don't even make the playoffs to begin with.
Dwight can still be an elite defender. If he'll just stop trying to play like Hakeem, a truly hopeless endeavor on Howard's part, and buy into being an elite defender who kills you with the pick and roll, we can get somewhere with this team. Of course, that requires Harden to quit trying to do everything himself. There were times last night when I yelled at my living room TV, yelling at James, "What the **** do you think you're doing??" How can a great player be so great at stupid sometimes? That's not what we need from you, Harden. You're a brilliant player. Stay away from Stupid, OK?
no matter how talented a player is, high-flying style of play will shorten his career. this applies to both guards and bigs. seen too many of that. i've always liked dwight. but given his decline, how to use and keep him becomes an issue. btw, at this point, safe to say dwight is an equal or a little less of a player compared to deandre jordan? if the clips cant win it all with griffin and cp3 outside of djordan, that makes me think,,, what lets us believe we can win it all w/ h&h?
Because if we have playoff Dwight for 82 games, he'd be injured for the year. He has bad knees and a bad back...he cant bring it every night...that's not an excuse, it's the reality of the situation.
I am with you to the point that there have been nights where Dwight seemed to be the only Rocket who showed up to play. But something's just not right with him. We got a pretty close look at him during the Memphis game and it seemed like he had no lift. There were plenty of times that he would establish position for a rebound and reach for the ball instead of moving his feet. More contested balls went the other way than usual. He seems pretty fluid in spurts, but his motion looks flat and stiff overall. Maybe he is holding back a bit. Maybe it's just taking him a while to work back into form. IDK, but he looks like a player who is not 100% physically — either knees or back.
This metric seems not that great. Memphis is not the defensive stalwart they have been thus far this year, but there is no way Marc Gasol is miles behind the Lopez brothers on defense
my thoughts exactly. i am all for "step up your game in the playoffs". but if that means taking sth. off often during the regular season, then the player isnt doing his job imo. and i am not just specifically talking about dwight here...
Well his deterrance is 33%. Which is low compared to everyone else, probably explains why Memphis D hasn't been so good.
dwert is not the problem with the team right now but he should think about taking a paycut next year so we can help bring in people that can actually help The following folks should be traded: Corey Brewer Corey Brewer I would even package ariza with him for the right person. Beverly up to last night's game was not playing defense however we ant get rid of him yet since ty is not playing great or consistently good.
Lol not all 3 and D players are stars. Although, "top tier defensive player" isn't a light term, but IMO we don't NEED top tier defenders to be great, good ones will do fine. What kills it is the passing, there is a of decent 3 and D players in the league, but very few 3 and D players can pass. Ariza, Beverley and Dmo are all solid defenders and 3 point shooters (when healthy and focused) Howard and Capela are great defenders and elite rebounders Thornton, Terry are good shooters We need a backup PG, SF and PF. Brewer is just utter trash, Lawson is no where to be found, Jones isn't a good enough 3 point shooter or defender. Outside of Lawson who is not playing, and Harden, we have no passers. We should focus on adding players who can either A Pass and shoot, or B Pass and defend. Which players who seen obtainable could fill these positions for us? A.Bradley, Collision, Bayless Jack, Vasquez, M.Williams, Aminu, Patterson? Beverley Harden / Thornton / Terry Ariza Motie Howard / Capela
Dwight isn't the reason the team is 7-10 and looking like crap. But he's not a superstar anymore. His rebounding numbers are deceptive since he's surrounded by teammates who can't grab defensive boards if their lives depended on it. His offensive game is embarrassing. He's nowhere near as quick as he used to be. Watch when he catches the ball in the paint. Those used to be automatic dunks back in the day. Now he has to gather himself and he usually winds up missing a layup or getting fouled and sent to the line. I will note that his free throw shooting is marginally better this season, especially compared to how pathetic he was in the playoffs. But he's still sub-60%, so that's damning him with faint praise. Bottom line, I don't want Dwight on this team next season if he's gonna be making 22+ mil a year. Especially if he continues to deteriorate physically. It would be one thing if we were getting superstar Dwight Howard 75% of the year, but we're not even seeing that anymore. And to add insult to injury, he's missing 25% of the season(or playing limited minutes in those games) because his body is breaking down. Let him walk(or trade him before the year ends if the team continues to struggle) and let Capela take his minutes. At an average of 2 mil a season over the next couple years, he's a bargain compared to Dwight. Use that money elsewhere. God knows we could use a PG and some quality shooters on the roster.
Or maybe - Memphis D hasn't been good as a team which makes his metric look lower than it would otherwise be. That seems to be far more likely. Anthony Davis is an elite shot blocker and an elite deterrer under this metric - but the Pelicans defense remains among the worst in the league. Why isn't among the very best?
I agree, if you're Tim Duncan surrounded by kawhi and green who are premier wing defenders, the burden that you carry is lower thus making your metrics higher. As for anthony Davis, his contest percentage is really low, and this is probably just a result of age and positioning. When he is in position he does well, just not in position as often as the best. My point isn't that our defense is bad because of Dwight. I'm saying Dwight hasn't been as good as he was in years past as far as defense, but I didn't think anyone needed stats to see that. Even Dwight from two years ago when he anchored a middling defense had much better numbers than today.
